We all have a cherished family recipe, each stain representing a story. For author Whitney Miller, that recipe was scribbled in the back of a church cookbook 100 years ago, and it’s steeped in history.

Yes, my great-grandmother did walk miles to school. And yes, she did carry a pail—a syrup can, actually—containing her lunch. Mary Prudence Ladner was born in 1915 in Poplarville, Mississippi, so she experienced the Depression years, and comfort during those times was homemade. Her mother, my great-great-grandmother, Hattie, made tea cakes, and these became lunchtime treats to place in the pail, enjoyed by her 11 children.

Decades later, my great-grandmother continued this tradition, making the same tea cakes for her kids. My twin great-aunts recall sitting at a flour-covered table as children, rolling the sweet tea-cake dough into long, thin shapes to form “snakes” while my great-grandmother rolled a simple ball of the tea-cake dough between her hands and flattened it into a round on the pan, leaving an imprint of her fingers on each cookie. She made huge batches, using a 5-pound bag of flour. Total yield: 80 cookies.

One of my grandfather’s cousins once asked her why she baked so many each and every time, and she said confidently, “Well, right now it is just you and me, but in a little while someone else will stop by.” Sure enough, she was usually right.

The recipe has since been passed down through every generation, and the tea cakes make a sweet cameo at every holiday gathering. When I take a bite, I can’t help but feel surrounded by family, both past and present.

Whitney Miller is the first winner (season one) of MasterChef and author of the cookbook Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm.

COMMENTS

Amazing how nasty people get. The recipe is right there if you only LOOK. Merry Christmas! HA!

December 2, 2012 at 6:46 am

TURLIER. Yamile

Is there anybody for translate in french pléiade :):)

November 28, 2012 at 7:58 am

gail

Margaret: click on the red highlighted ‘family recipe’ in the last line. It will take you directly to the recipe.

2012: Great-grandmother Mary dies before her 97th birthday. Her family recipe lives on in the November 2012 pages of Southern Living.

November 27, 2012 at 4:31 pm

margaret rossi

Sorry I left a message previously that I didn’t see flour in the recipe but now reading down the page I have to buy the cookook to figure it out. I thought that southern living was being kind to give a recipe u are all the same there’s always a catch. So we have to buy the cookbook to get the recipe in full because you can’t understand the measurements on the top of the page and they left some ingredients out. If you want to make these cookies you have to buy the cookbook.

November 27, 2012 at 3:59 pm

margaret rossi

Sorry I left a messdage previously that I didn’t see flour in the recipe but now reading down the page I have to buy the cookook to figure it out. I thought that southern living was being kind to give a recipe ut your all the same there’s always a catch. So we have to buy the cookbook to get the recipe in full because you can’t understand the measurements on the top of the page and they left some ingredients out. If you want to make theser cookies you have to buy the cookbook.

November 27, 2012 at 3:56 pm

margaret rossi

I see the recipe in the letter written on top of the page but reading down the page it says flour but it doesn’t say where the recipe is written altogether. HELP!!!!!

November 27, 2012 at 3:49 pm

Terri Hoover Dunham

My paternal grandmother, Mamaw, made tea cakes. The tea cakes are delicious, but I cherish the recipe mostly because it reminds me of very special times with a very special woman. — Lovely story.

November 27, 2012 at 11:38 am

Melissa

I love this! Especially the part of the finger imprint on the cookies. My Grandmother would make biscuits like this and flatten them out with the back part of her hand leaving a slight three finger imprint on each biscuit. To this day I refuse to roll and cut out biscuits. I only roll them in my hand then press them flat with the back of my hand leaving three finger imprints. Doing this always brings a smile to my face.